Chapter Text
“What if I’m not the superhero. What if I’m the bad guy?”
I narrowed my eyes and then learned forward, a smirk on my face. “Well, what if I were the bad guy?” I paused. “Or girl?” I raised one eyebrow at him.
Edward learned back, a little astonished at my response. Then his eyes tightened. “You couldn’t be,” he finally said.
“That you know of,” I snorted. He didn’t know that I already knew what he was, and he had no idea what I was. I was pretending just as much as him. But vampires didn’t have the same senses that my kind did. He was a part of a different immortal class, the undead one.
Edward ignored my comment. “Would it change anything?” He pressed.
“No,” I smiled at him. I liked playing with him, this cat and mouse. He thought he was more dangerous than me. Which in some ways he was, and in some ways I was more harmful to him, but in a lot of ways we were equals. Both supernatural creatures. Both are immortal (while certainly in different ways). Both powerful.
But Edward’s life was comfortable. He was safe. He had adoptive parents and siblings. He was surrounded by love, I could feel that. I wasn’t quite in the same boat. Edward lived a much more cushy life than I did.
“It should,” I heard him practically growl at me while I was lost in my train of thought. In my overthinking, I had inadvertently started looking down at my hands on the table.
I looked up at him now, staring deep into his beautiful face. His jewel-like eyes. He was dazzling. And so innocent. It was becoming hard to hide how much he didn’t know, and how funny that was to me. I could feel the conflict happening in his stone-cold body. The internal battle of thinking he was corrupting me by being near me. How much he didn’t know, I was already corrupted.
I shrugged at him and flipped my hair over my shoulders. “Uh-huh,” I smiled at him. That seemed to bother him a bit. I was being too nonchalant for his liking.
I reached out and gently pressed my hand to his hand. He was taken aback by this touch, suddenly staring intently at my fingers lightly brushing his knuckles. “Look,” I breathed. “I’m not as delicate as you think I am,” I smirked at him. “I can handle myself. And,” I hesitated. I was going to give him a clue. Maybe he would classify me as a freak, just as he wished I would do to him. “And,” I repeated and looked up at him through my lashes, “I have my own secrets,” I said, barely a whisper. But I knew he could hear it. I knew some of vampires' capabilities. My gran had told me before she passed.
I decided to be even more reckless, because the bell rang right after I spoke, and the idea came to me in a flash. I hopped up. I briefly caught his staggered look at me. Gosh, he was beautiful. That almost distracted me. I spun around and disappeared. And suddenly I was in the upstairs girls bathroom.
I learned against the wall in the last stall. No one was in here with me. Passing period was over. A huge smile spread across my face. I reveled in this feeling, like I was in complete control, something I was growing accustomed to. And it was nice to know that Edward worried and cared for me. Like I was growing for him. I was not used to that.
I flushed the toilet and washed my hands just in case anyone was waiting outside. Which, my senses were right, someone was.
I opened the door, looking down one side of the hall before turning my head to look down the other side, when I saw her. Alice, Edward’s closest sister. She was leaning against the wall with her arms folded across her chest. She looked at me, her spiky hair framing her perfect face.
“Hi Bella,” she said in her sing-song voice.
“Hey,” I said, heaving my backpack on one shoulder. I turned away from her. She was right at my side as I started to walk.
“Can we talk?” She asked politely. “Outside?” There was something in her eyes that I didn’t want to deny. I nodded my head. I felt a kinship with Alice in a way. It was strange. An ancient string tying us together.
She walked ahead of me now, going down the stairs and outside. She was fast, so I had to speed walk. I followed her to my truck. She turned to face me, leaning against the truck bed.
“So,” she started. “How did you do that?” She looked at me, puzzled.
“Do what?” I asked innocently.
“Disappeared to the bathroom.”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure what you are talking about, Alice.”
“I know you know what we are.”
My eyes widened.
“But I don’t know what you are,” she put her fingers to her lips. “I know you’re not human.”
“I’m just Bella.” That was safe and not a lie. I didn’t want to lie to her.
She rolled her eyes. She leaned away from my truck and looked at me, almost menacing now. I leaned away.
“Whatever you are,” she practically hissed, “I just want you to know, don’t hurt my family. Specifically, my brother.” She emphasized the last word. A pang of jealousy. Edward was so loved, and he had no idea.
“I won’t,” I promised. I put my hands up as a surrender. I really didn’t want to hurt anyone. Or involve them in my problems. But I couldn’t deny the pull to Edward. And I suppose he couldn’t deny it either.
Alice took a step back. Then she smiled and danced away. My eyes followed as she twirled up the stairs back to school. I closed my eyes and leaned against my truck. It started to rain then. Water droplets caressed my face.
After a moment, I decided there was no point in going back to class. It was almost the end of the day anyway. I opened my eyes and turned toward my truck, unlocking the driver's side door and climbing inside. I started the vehicle and it boomed to life.
I drove home, messing with the radio. I had an eerie feeling that I was being watched. I pushed the feeling away. I already had enough to deal with.
Finally, I found a station that I liked, but soon after, I pulled into the driveway. Charlie wasn’t home yet. He probably wouldn’t be home for a long time.
I slowly climbed out of the truck, dragging my backpack, and went inside.
It was late at night now. Still no Charlie. But food would be waiting for him. I had learned early on how to enchant the fridge to have food always readily available for my scattered-brained parents. Renee was more focused on other things to bother with it, and Charlie was just human and a guy. Cooking wasn’t at the top of the list for things boys should learn.
I twirled my fingers over my desk and over my homework. Done. I had finished private witch school last year, so going to mortal school was just for Charlie’s sake.
I went to my window and lifted it slightly to get some cool and fresh air into my stuffy room. I didn’t realize I had to shut it. Maybe Charlie had shut it. I bristled at the thought. I didn’t want someone coming in here, especially Charlie. I should probably clean so no one could know my secrets. I had potions and my spell book out in the open.
I turned on some music and started in on cleaning. But I didn’t last long. I had put away most of my spell stuff when I found my notebook and pencils. I hadn’t drawn in so long since I had arrived in Forks. Before I knew it, the music and the pencil to paper had transported me away.
I thought about Edward. The perfect planes of his face. The way his eyelashes framed his beautiful eyes. I wondered what made his eyes that shade of gold. Gran had told me their eyes were red. Maybe he was a weak vampire. Maybe old or maybe too young?
Gran had only run into a few vampires in her day. They mostly kept to themselves. And they didn’t interact with witches very much. Vampires were some of the most selfish creatures. As the lore goes, anyway. I guess I would find out if that was true.
Before I knew it, I had drawn Edward’s perfect face from memory. I didn’t quite capture his beauty, but you could tell it was him. The perfect man.
I sighed as I looked at the clock. Midnight. Nothing good happens after midnight, Gran’s voice rang in my head. I put my notebook away and climbed into bed, shutting off my bedside lamp. I lay my head on the pillow, rested my hands on my chest, and stared at the ceiling. Sleep found me soon after.